Managing Chronic Pain with Fibromyalgia

"It's all in your head" is one of the worst phrases to say to someone who is in debilitating and chronic pain.

It is not uncommon to hear about patients going to their doctors with severe pain with no solutions. According to the National Institutes of Health, the most common reason for patients to seek out medical expertise is due to pain. However, 20% of patients who go to the doctor to find pain relief are unable to discover the root cause of the problem.

Part of the issue may not be the application of treatment, but rather, how doctors and patients both think of pain. According to Richard Harris, Ph. D., associate professor of anesthesiology and rheumatology at Michigan Medicine, when patients experience pain, they think about how intense their pain is rather than how widespread it is.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that is characterized by severe, intense pain. One of the most common ways to “fix” the pain caused by this condition is to follow the principles of the LOCATES scale. This scale requires the individual to maintain a diary about their pain and should include details about when they felt the pain.

As someone living with this chronic disease, one of the most important things to do is to find the right doctor, one that you trust so you can speak your mind freely. Sometimes, the doctor you visit may not be the right one for you, so it is important to carry out some research about the doctor beforehand by looking at their ratings or reviews left from actual patients. By carrying out thorough research about the doctor and also by maintaining a pain diary with the LOCATES acronym, you can manage your chronic pain and bring it under control.